This whole grain, high fibre berry crisp is summer in a bowl!
Growing up, my parents took my brother and I strawberry picking every single year. It meant sitting in a hot field for a good hour, crouched over the berry bushes, carefully picking the best berries. It sounds laborious, but I always enjoyed those summer outings. It was worth it to enjoy the ripe, sweet, freshly-picked berries! They were better than any berry from the store.
Now that I have my own family, I continue the tradition. I take my children strawberry picking every July (often with my parents!). Like I did when I was their age, they pick one, and eat one. But we always leave with a fragrant car full of red, juicy strawberries!
A few years ago, I discovered that we live only about 40 minutes from a high bush u-pick blueberry farm.
So now every August, we hop in the car with our big buckets, and pick the freshest blueberries. The farm is so beautiful. I find the process so peaceful and meditative. Sometimes we even go twice!
Then I get to come home and make all the blueberry things, like this yummy blueberry-strawberry crisp!
This is a family favourite in my house. I hope it will be in yours too. I have included modifications to make this both gluten-free and vegan, if desired.
This crisp is golden brown and crispy on top, and bursting with fresh berries underneath!
INGREDIENTS
1 cup quick oats (GF if needed)
1/2 cup almond flour (ground almonds)
1/2 cup spelt flour (whole wheat will work too, or buckwheat if gluten-free)
1/4 cup hemp hearts (seeds)
1/4-1/3 cup organic cane sugar (or coconut sugar)
not quite 1/4 cup coconut sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2-2/3 cup unsalted butter (or vegan butter or coconut oil), melted
5 cups mixed berries (I used 4 cups blueberries & 1 cup sliced strawberries)
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Mixing the berries with cornstarch helps them thicken up during baking.
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish with butter, coconut oil, or oil spray.
Measure out the blueberries, slice the strawberries, and then pour all the berries right into the baking dish.
Sprinkle the cornstarch, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and the maple syrup over the berries. Use a large spoon to mix them up in the baking dish until evenly coated.
In a large mixing bowl, using a large spoon, combine the oats, almond flour, spelt flour, sugars, cinnamon, and salt and mix well.
Melt the butter or coconut oil. (You can start with just over 1/2 a cup, and if the mixture seems dry, use more. I usually use between 1/2 and 2/3 of a cup).
Pour the butter over the oat mixture, and stir until fully coated.
Sprinkle the oat mixture over the berries, making sure to spread the oat mixture evenly over the entire dish.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the topping is golden brown, and the fruit juices are bubbling. Mine usually takes about 40 minutes.
Remove the crisp from the oven, and let sit for about 10 minutes.
Serve warm, with a dollop of plain Icelandic or Greek yogurt, or with your favourite ice cream (see below for what we used!).
This will keep for about 5 days, covered, in the fridge, though in my house it usually only lasts for 3 before it’s all gobbled up!
You can enjoy this on its own in a bowl and dig right in!Or, you can enjoy it with some ice cream – here we ate ours with my dairy-free blueberry coconut ice cream.
I hope you find this dessert as fresh and comforting as we do. Please let me know if you make it. I love hearing from you!
